


A Year in Their Life

by sottovocexo



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: Baby, F/M, Friendship, Motherhood, Pining, Pregnancy, Romance, Spoilers, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-27
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 12:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8667193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sottovocexo/pseuds/sottovocexo
Summary: This is a series of brief scenes about Rory and Jess reconnecting in the year after the revival. A Year in the Life drew clear parallels between Lorelai and Rory, Christopher and Logan, and Luke and Jess, implying Rory will eventually end up with Jess, as Lorelai ended up with Luke, but not without many years of friendship and bumps in the road along the way.





	1. Rest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> July 2017: Following the events of A Year in the Life, Rory is raising her daughter Lora as a single mother. One night, stretched thin by the baby's crying, Jess turns up at her place. He helps Rory and Lora find rest.

Jess opened the door, greeted by a baby’s wails. "You know, I had 911 dialed. I thought one of you might be dying. Still thinking that might be the case."

“Jess! Mom and Luke are in Nantucket with Grandma and they won’t be back for the rest of the week! And I don’t know what to do! She won’t stop crying! I don’t know why she’s crying! Jess, why is she crying?”

“Okay—” Jess reached out for Rory, but she paced past him, crossing the living room in two strides.

“I’ve fed her; I’ve rocked her; I’ve fed her again; I’m _still_ rocking her!”

__

__

“All right, slow down,” he said, taking hold of her arms. “Go get coffee.”

“What?”

“Go make a cup of coffee. I’ll put her down.”

“Really?”

Jess slipped Lora from her arms into his. Even as she cried, with her red face and puffy eyes, she looked just like Rory. He glanced up at her and smiled. “Really.”

Rory grabbed his arms. “Thank you!”

Jess looked down at Lora and rocked her, letting her squirm, tuning out the wails. She was just like Rory. 

She could hardly locate a mug. In her delirium, her eyes nearly didn't function, could barely fill the pot and brew the coffee. She needed a break so badly. She needed Jess to be there so badly. She took a seat at the kitchen table and leaned her head back. No late nights in college, no final semester term papers, could have prepared her for this. How did Mom do it? How did she do it without help, without family? How would she? She thought she was so much like Lorelai. They were one in the same. How was it that she couldn’t do this?

The whiffs of coffee started to wake her up. She eased out of the chair and poured herself a mug, remembering only at the last minute to bring Jess a cup too.

She returned to a silent living room: Jess standing over the crib, leaning in and brushing back Lora's hair.

“It’s…so quiet. The first night my neighbors won’t call the cops. Child services won’t stop by to take her into government custody in the morning. It's a Christmas miracle in July.”

Jess looked up and smiled. It wasn’t like that crooked smile that captivated her in high school. It was warmer. Kinder. Understanding, mature. 

“You put her down?”

“I put her down.”

“But how?”

“I guess I have a few tricks up my sleeve. That, and I just read her a few lines of _The Fountainhead_ and she was out cold. I always carry an extra copy for dire situations such as this.”

Rory knocked him on the arm. “Shut up! You never gave it a chance.”

He laughed. “Now Lora won’t have to suffer either.”

Rory sighed. “Jess…” She put her head on his chest. He placed a hand on her back. "How did my mom do this? How can I do this?”

“Because you can do anything.”

She closed her eyes. She needed this. She needed rest.


	2. Coming Along

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> March 2017: When Jess swings by Stars Hollow, he visits a now-pregnant Rory at the Gazette to see how the book is coming along.

Jess took up his seat at Mr. Roundbottom’s desk. “How goes it? How far in are you?”

“Six months and PopSugar tells me my baby is the size of a rutabaga, which is oddly specific,” Rory said, digging bourbon out from the desk and pouring Jess a glass. “This issue of the _Gazette_ is just short a poem, so I’m accepting submissions if you want to liven up your CV. We won’t pay you because they don’t even pay me. And the book is sixteen chapters down. But you were probably just talking about the book.”

Jess raised his glass.

“The words just came out of me—I don’t even know how it happened. But now I have to find an agent, someone who’s going to publish it, someone who’s going to edit it, anyone who’s willing to read it—”

“Okay, slow down,” he said, leaning toward the desk. “Sounds like you’ve come a long way. It’s only been a few months. You should be really proud of yourself.”

“I’ve never felt like something was more right in my life, Jess. It’s incredible.”

He smiled, trying to remember every detail about how her eyes somehow seemed even brighter in all the excitement. “I know the feeling. So…how are you doing?”

“Swell.”

“How are you really doing?”

She drooped onto the desk. “Tired. Frustrated. Exhausted. Bitter. Drained. Did I say tired?”

“Three different ways."

“There aren’t enough synonyms in the English language for that word. Someone should really go about inventing some more.”

“A job for another day,” he said with a toast.

Rory held her manuscript out in front of Jess. “I don’t even know where to start looking for an agent. I feel like I’m just going to run out of time and there I am, old and in a rocking chair at some nursing home—maybe in Switzerland—holding all these pages that amounted to nothing but a time-consuming coffee coaster.”

“Switzerland?”

“The best nursing homes are in Switzerland.”

“Here’s a start—stop looking.”

“What?”

“We’ll publish the book.”

“Who will?”

“We will. Truncheon will.”

“You’ll…what? But you haven’t even read it!”

“I don’t need to. I already know you’ve got something amazing on these pages,” he said, poking the packet. “They’d give anything to get a hold of something this good. I know I would.”

“Jess… I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll sign away the life rights. I’ll send you Chris’ contact info in the morning.”

She didn’t know what to do but jump into his arms.


	3. You, Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September 2017: Truncheon hosts a premiere party for the debut of Rory’s novel in Philadelphia with family and friends gathered to celebrate. Rory and Jess share a moment. It is what it is.

When Lorelai and Luke traipsed off to the hor douvres, Rory relocated to the drinks table. She couldn’t believe it. Her book had been published, praised by critics in early reviews, leaving her to enjoy the effort and success at her premiere party. In the heart of Philadelphia, Truncheon hosted the get-together at a bar down the street. A few drinks, friends and a reading. She couldn’t dream up a better night.

“The lucky dress. Needed some luck tonight?”

Jess walked over to Rory and picked up a cocktail behind her. 

She brushed the full red skirt and smiled. “Kirk is watching Lora because everyone else is here for the weekend. So, yes, extra luck needed.” 

“You’re okay with that?” 

“So long as she survives. Which reminds me, I should request proof of life.”

“First outing without the kid tough?”

Rory sighed. She glanced around the room, at the pile of copies on the table stationed at the entrance to the gathering of her friends and family. “So much of this book belongs to her that it feels wrong to leave her out but…it also feels most like me. The me in the pages, the one who wrote the book. You know?”

“I know. I know that you, too, remember?”

“Of course—there are mentions across pages 56-102. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Not at all. I’m the only one that didn’t get written off in the end.”

Rory looked away. Because of the way he was looking at her. How he always looked at her. “Do you want to talk outside? It feels a little stuffy in here.”

“Stuffy is what this place does best. Lead on.”

Rory leaned on the balcony and looked out over the city, looking for the art museum, the zoo. 

“I don’t think I thanked you enough.”

“Really, Rory, editing your manuscript was a breeze. I think I made two changes on page 27. And I think I was wrong.”

She looked for 30th Street Station. The tracks leading through the city.

“For giving me the idea for my book. For publishing it.”

“It was nothing.”

She looked at the city streets, the intersections, her eyes tracing the roads back to Truncheon. To the apartments above the publishing house. To Jess.

“For getting me back to Yale.”

Jess stepped toward her. “What?”

“For believing in me and seeing through me—seeing _me_. I can’t believe I was so stupid.”

“You said you fixed everything but...I had no idea.” Jess ducked his head, hiding a smile, and walked to the balcony. He stood beside her, watching her watch the city. 

“Thank you.”

Rory turned to him. She kissed him.

She kissed him but he pulled away. Jess looked down, stepped back. 

“I—I’m sorry,” she said.

“Sorry you kissed me or sorry it didn’t happen sooner?”

She had kissed him but it wasn’t right. 

“I…I don’t know.”

He knew it wasn’t right.

“Rory…” 

She looked up but wanted to look away, wanted to look at anything but the way his brow furrowed, the way he had to look at the city to see anything but her.

“I’m going to be here for you when you’re ready.” He met her gaze, stared into those blue eyes that were always so bright except when she looked at him. “I’m always going to be here for you.”

She had kissed him and she ran away. 

That way she didn’t have to look at him, the way he looked each time she left, longing for the moment when she’d walk back into his life and stay.


	4. Favor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May 2017: Rory nears her due date and the completion of her novel. Jess meets Rory at Luke’s to go over her book.

“Just one cup, Luke!”

“No! Rory, do you ever read articles?” he said, leaning across the counter. “You know you can’t be having any right now! Can’t you wait six more weeks?”

“But I’m stressed! And I could really use just one cup. Please, please, please!”

“Absolutely not, end of discussion.”

Jess took a seat by the window and dropped his bag on the table. “You should probably listen to the man.” 

“Jess!” Rory dashed to the small table. “So?”

He smiled and unzipped his bag. “It’s good.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, believe it. I’m telling you the truth.”

“It can’t be.”

“It can. It’s fantastic.” Jess slid the manuscript across the table and Rory breathed out.

“You really think so? You’re not just telling me that?” She took her seat slowly and laid her hands across the thick copy. The complete copy. Her first book. Gilmore Girls. As Lora grew inside her, her words poured out onto the pages. And there they were. 

“Never. One of the best I’ve read in a long time.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy. You really think it’s got a shot?”

“I really do.”

“I can’t thank you enough for editing it…” She tore her eyes away from the first page, spying Jess’ initials in the corner, and looked up. “How can I repay you?”

“My rates are running about, say, 100K per manuscript, so unless you’ve got that lying around, let’s say it was pro bono. Favor for a friend.”

“Jess, you’re amazing.”

He smiled. “That’s payment enough, too.”

"All right, I have to get back to the _Gazette_. Those poems don't write themselves, and I know no one is keeping Ethel in line. Like we pay her to file!"

"Actually, you do."

"Whose side are you on?" Rory stood up from the table and clutched her manuscript close to her chest. "Thank you again. See you around?"

"See you around."

Jess watched as Rory bounded out of the diner, crossing the street back to work. He smiled and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Still a work thing?" Luke called out from the counter.

"Yeah. Still a work thing."


	5. Gifts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June 2017: Jess visits Rory shortly before her due date to give her a present for the baby.

“Hello? Anyone home?” Jess asked from the foyer of Lorelai and Luke’s house, holding a brown package under his coat. 

“Jess, I didn’t know you were coming by," Rory said when she made it to the door. "Are you staying for the weekend?”

“No, just swinging by… I’m on my way to see Mom and TJ.”

“Well, Luke won’t be back till later if you want to stay for a bit,” she said, letting him walk past her into the living room.

Jess stood in center of the room and looked down at the package, holding it out for Rory. “Actually, I came by to see you. I know you’re not due for another couple of weeks, but I don’t know when I’ll be back in town next.” 

Rory stepped closer and took the box. “Jess, you didn’t have to bring me anything.” She unwrapped the gift and laughed at the sight of _War and Peace_ stacked on top of _Anna Karenina_. 

“Store didn’t sell abridged versions for the kids,” Jess said with a shrug. “Go figure.”

“Baby’s first Tolstoy. This is a big moment. I’ll read them to her every night before she goes to sleep, hoping that her dreams are filled with the horrors of the French invasion of Russia.” 

“Oh, and, beneath those is some J.M. Barrie, in case she can’t get right into it.”

“Ah, _Peter Pan_. That might be more her speed.” She laughed. “Jess, thank you. I’m really excited to read these to her.”

“So… Guess next time I see you there’ll be another Gilmore girl stirring up trouble around here.” 

Rory laughed. “Guess so. I don’t know if everyone is ready.”

“They don’t know what they’re in for.” Jess smiled at her and stuffed his hands in his pockets, looking toward the door before returning his gaze to Rory. “I should probably get going but…I can’t wait to meet her,” he said.

Rory laid a hand under her stomach and smiled. “Me too.”


	6. Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> November 2016: Jess confronts Rory about something she has been hiding from him.

“I found out from my mom,” Jess said. 

“What?” 

“Mom doesn’t even know you and she found out from Luke. Why Luke told her, I don’t know!”

“Jess, what are you talking about?” Rory asked, shaking her head.

“Which means you told your mom, she told Luke, Luke told my mom, Mom told me. Does the whole town know?”

“Jess, I don’t—”

“Mom told me you’re pregnant. So I didn’t hear it from you.”

“Oh.” Rory looked down at her feet. “Jess, I was going to—”

“Did you…think you couldn’t tell me? Did you think I just wouldn’t notice a baby next time I popped by? You know—”

“It’s his.”

Jess put his hands in his pockets. Rory looked away. 

“It’s his and I knew what you’d think—I _know_ what you’re thinking—and I couldn’t… I just couldn’t! I can hear you now. ‘That guy? That same guy?’ And I don’t need you to lecture me because I’ve heard it—I’ve heard it from Mom and from Luke, and Grandma didn’t _have_ to say anything but the way she was looking at me said it all. That’s the way everyone looks at me now.”

“Rory, I’m not going to…” he started, reaching out to her, then thinking better of it. “That’s not why I’m…” He sighed and ran a hand over his mouth.

“He’s part of me now and he’s never going to go away. Not completely.”

“I just…wish you would’ve told me. That’s all.”


	7. Decision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> January 2017: Rory considers abandoning her manuscript to pursue a different career.

“Happy New Year’s,” Jess said with a smile as he took up a seat in the _Gazette_ office. “Working hard?”

Rory dug a glass out and toasted him wordlessly.

“What’s wrong?” Jess asked.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“ _Something’s_ wrong.”

“Who said?”

“I did.” Jess leaned forward. “Now what’s the matter?” 

“I’m thinking of going back to school.”

“What?”

“I’m going to take the headmaster up on his offer and work at Chilton.” Rory eyed Jess’ glass, wishing her own was filled with bourbon. “Now’s as good a time as ever.”

“Why would you do that?” Jess pulled his chair closer to the desk. “That’s not what you want to do.”

“I need a livable salary. I don’t know how this book is going to work out—if I’ll ever even finish it. I’m going to be a mom.” She paused and laughed, a humorless sound. “I think that’s the first time I’ve said that out loud. Sure, I’ve known for a few months and half the town knows but…I’m going to be a mom and I can’t be selfish anymore. I can’t be aimless—”

“You’re _not_ aimless—”

“I can’t go on without a decent salary just to chase a pipe dream. I have a kid to raise.”

“Rory, this isn’t right for you. You’ve got to give the book a chance. You’ll get the money. You’ll make it work.”

“I think I need to do this. I’ll put the book down for now, send out some applications—”

“How could you say that? Rory, you can do this. Don’t throw away your work.”

“I’d hardly call six chapters work,” she said, throwing up her hands and slumping in her chair.

“Stop it.”

“Stop what?”

He put his glass down on the desk. “Stop selling yourself short. Sit down. Write a chapter a week. Get everything you need to down on paper and before you know it, you’ll have it.”

“You always did believe in me,” Rory said with a smile. 

“It’s because I always knew you.”

“Hey…if you’re still around tomorrow, you can come by again. I’ve got a few ideas, if you want to go over them.”

Jess picked up his jacket and headed toward the door. “Man, don’t you ever do any work around here?” 

Rory laughed. “What can I say? The front-page poems just spark my creativity. So…you'll be here?”

“Yeah. I’ll be here.”


	8. Meant to Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> September 2017: The continuation of Chapter 3 "You, Me." Following their kiss at her premiere party, Rory must give a reading of her book.

Chris walked up to the podium at the head of the party, drawing the attention of those in the room. "Thank you all for coming out tonight to celebrate this special young talent's first novel. Please welcome to the stage Rory Gilmore."

Rory stepped onto the platform, clutched the book to her chest and breathed in, held it as she looked out to the crowd, to her mother and Luke, to the people of Stars Hollow who were standing around and who lined the pages of her novel with quirks and support.

To her grandmother, the first Gilmore Girl; to her father; and to Jess, the man who inspired the book in her arms, who edited and published it, who encouraged her to find herself and stop trying to be anything less. The only man who didn’t have an ending in her story.

He looked away as she caught his gaze, looked down and rubbed his mouth, wiping away their kiss or unable to forget it. She had kissed him and hurt him and, still, she couldn't say goodbye.

She opened the book and passed her mother's story, leafed through Jess' pages, and settled on her final chapter. The next chapter in her life.

"'I'm pregnant.' The words were hard to utter. But, more than saying them, seeing the way it hit my mother, seeing her own life and mistakes - the ones she tried to prevent me from making - cross over her face was even harder. I can't take that moment back. I can't erase my mistake. But I wouldn't give up my daughter for anything.

"My mother didn't want me to be like her. She worked hard her whole life to make sure I became someone else. But, from my first cup of coffee at ten," she said with a laugh, "we both should have known. We should have known that I already was her, and it was too late to change. I wouldn't have wanted to, anyway. We should have known we were Gilmore Girls through and through."

Jess watched her. He didn't leave. He wouldn't.

"I have said my goodbyes and found my support system. The people who would be there for me, as they were for my mother, and as they will be for my daughter. Those who would always stand by the Gilmore Girls..."


End file.
